24
Liberating Kuwait
before it was to be launched. He quickly composed a plan splitting Iraq’s missile boat flotilla into two task forces, each carrying elements of the 440th Naval Infantry Brigade. The first task force was to sail south and seize Kuwait’s naval base at Ras alQulayah. The second was then to seize Faylakah Island.22
The Invasion of Kuwait The Iraqi invasion of Kuwait began shortly after midnight on 2 August 1990 when the Republican Guard began seizing Kuwaiti border forts in preparation for the invasion. The invasion proper was set to begin at 0400.23 The Iraqi Air Force’s initial strikes on Kuwait were delayed by poor weather over Iraqi airfields, and the first air strikes did not hit Kuwaiti airfields until 0625. As a result, the Kuwaiti Air Force’s McDonnell Douglas A-4 Skyhawks were able to launch attacks against the advancing columns of the Republican Guard with effects that angered Republican Guard officers long after the battle had ended.24 The Iraqi Air Force also failed to secure air superiority for the helicopterborne commando missions that began the assault on Kuwait. Iraq’s helicopter pilots were not trained in night or large formation flying, but with less than six-hours notice, 96 helicopters were ordered to fly elements of two Republican Guard commando brigades against two primary targets: the Kuwaiti royal family and the critical road junction at Mutla Ridge.25 Taking off in the early morning darkness of 2 August, the result was a predictable catastrophe. At least 40 of the helicopters were lost—20 most likely were downed by the Kuwaiti Air Force and Hawk surface-to-air missile batteries, but another 20 or so crashed into power lines or each other, sometimes while trying to avoid Kuwaiti missiles.26 The commando missions had little apparent success after landing. The 3d Republican Guard Special Forces Brigade did not seem to have any appreciable impact on Kuwaiti forces rushing to hold Mutla Ridge. The 16th Republican Guard Special Forces Brigade was landed at the royal palace and other sites in downtown Kuwait City but failed to capture the emir or any politically significant members of his family. They did manage to kill the emir’s younger brother, Sheik Fahd al-Ahmed alSabah, as he defended the palace alongside the palace guard.27 After the Kuwaiti border forts were seized quickly and according to schedule, the Republican Guard columns moved quickly, driving for their ini-
tial objectives. The most important of these was Mutla Ridge, a natural barrier that the Kuwaitis intended to defend with two brigades, the 6th Mechanized Brigade and the 35th Armored Brigade. The 17th Armored Brigade, Hammurabi Armored Division, arrived at Mutla Ridge at 0600 and blasted through a small force from the 6th Mechanized Brigade. They then engaged two forces from the 35th Armored Brigade in succession as they passed through Mutla Pass and descended on Kuwait City. By 0830, the Hammurabi Armored Division’s lead elements were enmeshed in a traffic jam in Kuwait City as civilian traffic clogged the streets. In addition, fuel ran short and commanders commandeered additional fuel from civilian Kuwaiti filling stations in order to reach their final objectives on the Gulf.28 The Nebuchadnezzar Division secured its portions of Kuwait City by late afternoon on 2 August as well, but the Medina Armored Division ran into stiffer opposition from the Kuwaiti Air Force and the Kuwaiti Army as it tried to complete its mission of sealing the southern border.29 Colonel Salem Masoud Saad al-Sorour commanded Kuwait’s 35th Armored Brigade, and his brigade placed itself at the Atraf road junction defending the Ali al-Salem Air Base and the roads into Kuwait City where they acted as the primary opposition to the Medina Armored Division. Throughout the day they fought a hard holding action against the Iraqi forces, stopping their tanks and forcing the Iraqis to make swarming attacks with their accompanying infantry. The brigade’s stand had little hope, however. Colonel Salem later noted, “We were running short of ammunition, by three o’clock all the commanders notified me that their ammunition would be finished if we were to continue fighting and we had no means of replenishing our supplies.” Colonel Salem requested air and artillery support, but none was available. Ordered to act on his own discretion, Salem took his brigade south to the border with Saudi Arabia, crossing over on the morning of 3 August after recovering as much of their equipment as they could from the brigade’s barracks.30 Captain Martin N. Stanton, an American Army officer stationed in Saudi Arabia and trapped in Kuwait by the invasion, observed the Iraqi attack and was unimpressed by the Republican Guard. They lacked professionalism, in his view. Observing the odd placement of an artillery battery, he determined that “shade was the primary consideration; they put their battery where the men could get out
